Man says confrontation led to homophobic rant at Lynnwood spa

LYNNWOOD, Wash. – Cellphone video captured inside a Lynnwood spa shows a woman go on a homophobic tirade against a young gay man.

Christopher Brown stopped at Casabella Spa & Nails on Dec. 30 for a pedicure. He says a woman walked in, sat down next to him and started a loud speakerphone conversation.

“When I asked her to take her phone off speaker, she looked at me, looked back at her phone call, and then said, hold on, let me take care of this f*****, and then hung up her phone,” Brown said.

Then, he says, he started recording on his cell phone.

The video shows the woman telling staff to kick Brown out of the spa. They refused. Then she gets up and storms out, delivering a fury of homophobic insults on her way out.

A staff member from Casabella tells KOMO News Brown was polite the entire time.

WARNING: The cellphone video contains offensive language.

“I was in complete disbelief and shock,” Brown said. “It took about a week of not sleeping, a week of anxiety, a week of worrying what would happen if I didn’t act, for me to finally step up.”

Brown finally posted the video to Facebook, where it’s been shared more than 1,000 times.

“I know this was just words, but they really do matter,” he said.

After all, Brown is gay. He moved to Seattle from Indiana because of the city’s inclusive reputation.

KOMO News tried to identify the woman to get her side of the story, but was unable to track her down.

Brown hopes sharing his story impacts others — especially the woman who left him in this vulnerable position.

“I wouldn’t want to cause any undo harm on her life,” he said. “I would just want her to come to light with what she said, realize that those views are not okay and that you can’t treat people like that.”